At the present time there are available middle ear vent tubes of substantially the same shape as the claimed new and improved laminar vent device. One of these vent tubes is constructed entirely of elastomeric materials such as natural rubber or similar butadiene-styrene and the like. This device has the disadvantages that it is not possible to flex or compress the structure at the time that the otologist seeks to insert the vent into the small incision which he makes in the tissue membrane of the middle ear. The result of this is that the incision made must be substantially larger and slippage of the vent from the opening of the membrane is fairly common. In some cases it falls out of the ear and in some cases it goes within the inner ear itself causing much difficulty to the patient. The TEFLON flanges of the tube do not compress and deform against the surface of the membrane in which they have been implanted because the essential nature of this plastic material TEFLON is to slide along the surface of whatever it contacts and hence the efficiency of the flange shaped structure of this ear vent is dissipated because of the nature of the materials from which it is made.
On the other hand if one were to replace this grommet with a device made entirely of rubber or some similar elastomer which would deform and retain securely in the slit in the membrane wall a separate but equally serious problem would arise. This problem concerns the passage of fluids such as blood across and through the vent tube. Unless care is taken to insure a very smooth and inert surface within the tube where the channel of fluid flows a congestion and consequent plugging of the tube can and will occur. This plugging is frequently caused by tiny blood clot formation within the tube.
Therefore it can be seen that prior to the present invention the ear vents available each had problems of one type or another associated with their use. It remained for the present innovator to create a laminar ear vent tube which has none of these problems. The resultant discovery is the subject matter of this patent application more specifically detailed below: